Catheterization is a relatively non-invasive medical procedure where a flexible hollow tube is inserted into a vein or artery of a patient to allow doctors access into a patient for treatment and/or diagnosis of an ailment. Children, and babies in particular, that require catheterization present a particular challenge to the procedure as their small bodies are often placed on adult-sized treatment beds. To ensure their arms remain out of the way during the procedure these patients are catheterized with their arms overhead. These beds are not sized for these patients and the medical personnel must oftentimes position the patient using an ad-hoc support of towels and medical tape.
Accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention to provide a device that is removably mounted to a conventional adult-sized treatment bed that supports the overhead arms of a smaller patient, without interfering with the surgical or imaging procedure.
It is a further advantage of the invention to provide an arm positioning collar that is of simple construction that may be provided as an accessory to provide a simple solution for positioning smaller patients during catheterization and catheter-based procedures.
The foregoing advantages have been realized by providing a unique support collar having a recessed slot for mating to a treatment bed. The platform has a flat upper surface that lies in-plane with the top surface of the bed's mattress allowing placement of the patient's arm thereon without the risk of superabduction of the limbs or otherwise stressing the patient's upper body.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when viewed in accordance with the accompanying drawings.